perfect picture come to life
by luverofjamesandlily
Summary: Kenna has everything put together: great friends, a housekeeper that loves her when her dad isn't there to, and is making her way through her junior year. That is, until she earns herself detention with Sebastian Poitiers and not everything is as it seemed.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Reign or any of the characters used in this! I just love Bash and Kenna together and couldn't accept what the show did to them, so I made up my own version. Enjoy!**

"This is completely ridiculous," Kenna said under her breath as she crept down the hallway full of bright red lockers and scuffed tiles, keeping a sharp eye out for teachers. Mary, one of her best friends, had asked her for help in conveniently running into Francis. He was her on and off again boyfriend, currently stuck on the off again stage and Mary wanted to flip the switch back on. That led Kenna to where she was now, having left class to try and figure out where Francis would be as soon as the bell rang. She wasn't quite sure what Mary's grand scheme was, but it would probably involve some elaborate gesture that would result in the two of them back in their sickeningly sweet relationship once again.

This is what she got for being the only one of Mary's friends who didn't care so much about school. Mary never would have asked Greer to do this, or Lola or Aylee.

Footsteps thudded around the corner, heading towards her and she swore to herself before ducking into the nearest door, pulling it shut after her with a quiet click. It was a closet with no light at all, the air stale with a slight chemical odor to it. She froze when she bumped into something warm and solid as she backed further into the small space. With her breath held, she moved away and fumbled for the door knob but it rattled on its own before she could touch it. She stepped backwards, feeling like a pinball with her back and forth movements, and hit the body next to hers again as the door swung open and someone flicked the light on. It was the janitor, who shook his head when he saw Kenna and the other person she was hiding with. She turned to see it was Bash, of all people. He was Francis's half-brother and she tried her hardest to avoid him on the best of days.

"I keep telling administration we need to lock these doors. Damn kids, find somewhere else to have rendezvous'," he muttered as he gestured for them to step out. "Come on, I can't let this slide. If I do, it'll never stop," he added, before leading them to the principal's office.

"We weren't doing anything!" she said but he gave no response. She huffed out a breath and deliberately waited a beat before following so she could speak to Bash.

"What were you doing in there?" she hissed, upset at the situation and that she had to walk twice as fast to keep up with his long strides. Her long, loose hair was swinging back and forth behind her with every angry step she took, her metal headband in danger of sliding down her hair onto her forehead.

"I'd assume the same as you, trying not to get caught for being out of class," he replied.

She rolled her eyes.

"Obviously," she said. "But why weren't you in class?"

"Why weren't you in class?"

"I asked the question first, I'd like an answer."

"I had some things that needed to be taken care of."

"Like that isn't vague at all."

"Your turn," was all he said, turning to her with that frustrating smirk he always seemed to wear. Luckily, they arrived at the principal's office and Kenna was saved from answering.

"These two need to see Principle Medici for a talking to," the janitor said to the secretary. She looked up from her cluttered desk, pictures of children and a few dogs placed in the few spots not covered in papers. There was a halfhearted strand of Christmas lights stuck to the edge of her desk. It was drooping at both ends and in the middle a great deal and a few bulbs were burnt out.

"She's finishing up a phone call, take a seat," she said, gesturing to the hard, plastic chairs opposite of her desk. Kenna bit back a sigh as she sat down, shifting away from Bash when he sat next to her. She could tell without even glancing at him that he was laughing at her, which bothered her more than it should have. The janitor also sat down heavily, a few chairs in between him and Bash.

"Just what I need, to sit here and deal with idiotic children," he muttered and Kenna almost smiled. Served him right for dragging them to the office. If he had just listened to her, he wouldn't have needed to turn them in. She could have promised to go back to class and he probably would have let her.

Principle Medici's door opened and a hand beckoned them in. She followed after the janitor, pushing past Bash so she could walk in first. As soon as she walked in though, she almost wished she had let Bash lead the way. She'd forgotten how much the principle hated her. It wasn't even her fault. Francis was her son and she had an incredible disregard for Mary. Therefore, she disliked Kenna on association of being Mary's best friend. Principal Medici's eyes followed Kenna as she took a seat on the edge of the chair, pulling her uniform skirt under her legs as she sat, Bash sinking into the other one. Kenna twisted the chain of her necklace around her finger, the little gold pendent emblazoned with a "K" nudging against her fingers.

He smiled at the principal and Kenna could have sworn she smiled for a moment before her stern façade snapped back into place.

"What seems to be the problem here, Mr. Korgan?"

"I found these two in my supply closet, having a little alone time."

"Is this true?" she asked both of them. Kenna's mind raced, weighing the benefits of lying over telling her the truth—that she'd been trying to help Mary win Francis back. She'd probably get a year's worth of detention if she told Catherine that. Her eyes flickered over to Bash's and she shrugged ever so slightly, leaving it up to him if he wanted to lie.

"Yes it is," he said, nodding along to his words. Principal Medici sighed, the sound long and sad.

"That is unfortunate. I'd hoped you two were more intelligent than this. There is plenty of time to be social outside of school," she said.

"To be young and in love," Bash said, lifting his palms in the air helplessly. Kenna snorted and immediately regretted it, when all eyes flashed to her.

"I just wouldn't call it love," she tried to explain. "It's very new and… we're very young, you know." She bit her tongue and decided she would be done speaking forever.

"Regardless of what you call it, there needs to be some form of punishment for this. I've heard that the theatre production needs assistance with the set building. You two can lend your help to them after school every day for two weeks," she said.

"I have soccer practice after school every day," Bash said quickly. "I can't miss that."

"And I have events to attend for yearbook!" Kenna protested. "I'm the only photographer, I can't not show up."

Principal Medici studied them both for a long moment before nodding.

"Fine. You can both come in an hour before school begins and work on the sets then. I'd bring a change of clothes, I've heard it can get rather messy," she added, the side of her mouth quirking up. Kenna held in her sigh, but just barely. She knew it was much better than she should have expected but that didn't mean she had to be happy about it. Mary owed her big time for this, even though Kenna knows she would have done this even knowing she'd get in trouble. Mary was just that sort of friend you'd do anything for.

"All right. Can we go back to class now?" Bash asked. She nodded and they both stood up, the janitor already having slipped out of the door.

"Bash?" Catherine called as they were about to step out of the office. Kenna waited, not sure if she was supposed to wait as well.

"You'll have to bring your girlfriend to the family dinner next weekend," she said. Kenna choked on the air, her cheeks bright red. Bash patted her back a few times and flashed a smile at his step-mother before leading Kenna out with that hand on her back.

They walked past the secretary, who looked mildly concerned as Kenna tried to take a deep breath. Bash smiled at her as well and she let her gaze shift back to her computer screen uneasily. She probably thought Kenna was having a panic attack over getting detention. Once they were in the hallway, Kenna shrugged his hand off of her back and took a step away.

"Why didn't you tell her I wasn't your girlfriend? We aren't even friends, let alone dating!"

"I'm hurt, Kenna. I thought we were the closest of friends," he said, a hand on his heart, blue eyes twinkling with amusement. His mouth twitched with a barely suppressed smile. His casual expression matched his tousled uniform shirt, which never appeared to be ironed. She rolled her eyes and started walking down the hallway. "Excuse me if I don't want my family finding out I make out with random girls in school closets," he said, following her.

"Oh come on, am I supposed to believe that Bash Poitiers is a blushing virgin?" she scoffed.

"No, but that doesn't mean I screw anything that moves," he said, serious this time, and Kenna fell silent, whatever she had been about to say had dissipated with his words. "Besides, there are plenty of rumors about you too, don't pretend you're any better than me. At least people don't think I'm sleeping with a teacher." Kenna came to an immediate stop and whirled around so suddenly, Bash almost ran into her.

"That isn't true and you know it," she said, holding his gaze until he nodded. Kenna clenched her hands into fists to stop them from shaking and she turned around again. She had been planning on returning to class for the last fifteen minutes or so, but she knew she couldn't handle that right now. She adjusted her path to stop by her locker and grab her camera. She'd just wait out by the field for the football team, snap a few pictures and then go home and away from school and Bash.

She could hear him behind her still but she just doubled her resolve to ignore him. Instead, she slid her phone out of her backpack pocket and texted Mary that she hadn't been able to figure out where Francis was going to be. She supposed she could have asked Bash but she figured Mary would understand her not taking the extra step in this case.

" _That's fine. Thanks for trying : )"_ Mary texted back, more quickly than Kenna had expected her to. She normally didn't check her phone during class, she must be more serious about this thing with Francis than Kenna had thought.

Kenna walked up to the locker that had a large grey scratch across it. She had never quite been able to figure out what caused it and spun her lock to open it. She shoved a few of her notebooks into her backpack. She paused, though, when she remembered she needed to take her math textbook home with her. It theoretically could fit into her backpack, but it'd make her back ache as long as she had to carry it. But she also didn't want to have her hands full of things when she was trying to take pictures of the team later. She shifted some of the things around in her bag and stuffed it in alongside the notebooks, pleased when she got the clasps on the faux leather straps to shut.

Bash had stopped at his own locker, which happened to be diagonal from hers, just a little ways away. She forced herself to stop glancing at him when he almost caught her looking at him. She shook her head at herself, she was acting ridiculous. Boys didn't have an effect on her, she always made sure she had the upper hand. So why did it feel like Bash was already making her crazy?

...

The shots of the football team had turned out great, Kenna decided as she tabbed through them on her laptop later that night. Maybe she needed to be frustrated for all of her shoots, if it got her results like these. She rested her head on her hand and pushed the laptop off of her crossed legs, stretching them out across her faded blue comforter. It had white flowers and didn't match the rest of her room at all, but her mom had picked it out for her when she had been a little girl and she'd never had the heart to get rid of it. Her eyes drifted shut and she had been on the brink of drifting off when her phone buzzed against her nightstand.

She grabbed it and tapped her finger to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Kenna, what happened today?" Mary asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, there's a rumor you slept with Bash in a supply closet! I didn't even think you liked Bash."

Kenna groaned into her phone. Well, that explained the stupid smirks some of the football players had thrown her way on the field.

"I didn't and I don't." She paused before adding, "At least this rumor isn't about a teacher."

There was a pause on Mary's end before Kenna heard shuffling and Mary's voice came through again.

"I'm going to need a little explanation then."

Kenna explained the whole situation to her, hating Mary's stunned silence.

"So he just pretended you two were a thing? In front of Principal Medici?"

"Yep. And she said something about bringing me to a family dinner so he better straighten things out before whenever that is."

"Oh my god, the family dinners are the _worst_. Every time I went over for one, Catherine would just glare at me the whole time and Henry would try to make small talk and Bash was always making jokes, trying to lighten the mood but it never worked. That's the only good thing about not being with Francis right now." Kenna could practically see Mary shudder through the phone.

"Great. I better make sure I don't have to go to that. I just can't believe there's already a rumor about this. And whoever saw us must not have a sex life at all, because we were completely put together when we came out of that storage room. I didn't have a hair out of place. It would have been miserable sex if we had had it," Kenna said, laughing at the thought and at Mary's sigh. "Come on, Mary, you know I'm right. Even if you and Francis haven't actually had sex yet, you've done enough to know what I'm talking about."

"That's completely beside the point, Kenna," she said, but Kenna could hear the laughter welling up in her friend, so she took it as a win.

"I'm never going to speak to Bash again." Kenna sighed.

"Good luck with that, you're going to spend ten hours with him and only him for the next two weeks."

"You're the worst. This is all your fault, actually. You should go to detention for me."

"It isn't my fault you got caught. There normally isn't any patrol in the halls during fifth, I didn't know you'd run into the only adult in the hallways. And I would have been more inventive than hiding in a closet if I had been the one out."

"Yeah, yeah," she grumbled half-heartedly. "Are you going to speak to Francis tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure. He probably needs more time."

"Mary, you two broke up because you were worried you'd been together for too long. Even though you've been broken up for half your relationship anyway. And it's been months. It's enough time."

"We've been dating since seventh grade, it was natural to want time apart." Even Mary didn't sound convinced.

"And now you've had time a part and you're miserable and I'd guess he's miserable too. Just suck it up and talk to him tomorrow."

"We'll see."

Kenna figured that was the best she'd get out of Mary over the phone, so she chatted a little longer and decided to head downstairs after she hung up to see if her dad was home yet.

"Dad home?" she asked the housekeeper, a nice woman named Deirdre that always made sure Kenna ate her vegetables and did her homework when her dad was too busy to do the same.

"Not yet. He called, said he'd be a little late today. Dinner is ready though, if you want to eat," she said, gesturing to the chicken alfredo she'd made.

"Yeah, it smells great, Deirdre."

"Thank you, Miss Kenna. Now eat before it gets cold."

Kenna sat at the large dining room table that could easily seat ten people and ate by herself, a scene she was used to by now. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten a meal with her father that wasn't a holiday meal, where he was forced to be home because even work was closed. She ate quickly, shoveling the pasta down her throat so she could escape back to her room, cozy and crafted carefully to be the opposite of the rest of the house that never seemed alive. In her room, she curled up under a soft knitted blanket and did her trig homework, painstakingly writing out each problem and biting the tip of her pencil as she stumbled her way through them.

Later that night, as Kenna was trying to drift off in her bed, she tried not to think about anything related to school or detention and most definitely not Bash Poitiers.


	2. Chapter 2

Kenna knew she needed to speak to Bash. Eventually. She didn't avoid him, per se. She just made sure she was never in the same place she knew he would be at certain times. She hoped since this rumor was just with another student, it would die down when people couldn't find more fuel to keep it going. She made it through Thursday without a confrontation but Bash apparently had other plans and found her Friday after school.

"I didn't see you at all yesterday," he said from where he was leaning against the door to her car.

"We don't always see each other, we don't have any classes together," she said, opening the back door and throwing her backpack inside before standing back to look him in the eye. She had to crane her neck slightly which didn't make her happy.

"I thought we should talk about things."

"What things?" she asked, a little too happy that he looked uncomfortable.

"You must have heard the rumor. And Catherine keeps bugging me about the family dinner," he explained. Kenna looked to the side and sighed when she saw people walking by and shooting glances their way.

"I don't want to talk about this now. Are you free after soccer practice?" He nodded, so she set her jaw and went through with the suggestion she didn't want to make. "Come over to my place after and we can figure this all out. You know where I live?" Another nod, to which she furrowed her brow.

"Francis and I have picked Mary up from your house before."

"Okay. See you then," she said and pointedly waited for him to move away from her door.

"Bye."

She called Greer on her way home. She had caught up the other three friends that completed their little group—Greer, Lola, and Aylee—the day before so they knew the rumor wasn't true.

"I invited Bash over to my house," she said as soon as Greer picked up her phone.

"Okay… why?" she asked.

"He was at my car when I left school and wanted to talk about the stupid rumor and the dinner with his family."

"I didn't realize there was anything to say about the dinner. Why would he want to bring a girl he isn't dating to a family dinner?"

"Hell if I know. I wouldn't bring someone home to my dad unless we were serious," Kenna said, passing the car in front of her that was practically inching along the street. They honked at her as she passed and she waved her hand at them, a casual flick of her fingers. She took a moment to appreciate the bright trees as she drove down her street, the fall colors made her so happy. She loved everything about autumn, the crisp air, sweaters and scarves, changing leaves.

"Yeah, well obviously there's something there that he isn't telling you yet." Greer said, pulling Kenna out of her own thoughts.

"I know. I guess I'll figure it out later. All right, I'm home. I'll call you after he leaves."

"Good luck," Greer said before hanging up the call. Kenna frowned at her forehead in the rear view mirror. Why did these things keep happening to her? She just wanted junior year to be different but maybe she wasn't capable of having a drama free school year. She got out of the car and slung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Hi Deirdre," she called, heading upstairs to her bedroom without waiting for a reply. She wanted to get her homework done before Bash got there because something told her she wouldn't be very productive afterward, if she needed to call Greer and bitch about Bash some more.

The light shifted on her books as she read at her desk, dancing as the sun moved across the sky and filtered through the leaves on the tree outside her window. She was so engrossed in the chapter she had to read for her American Lit class, she startled when she heard Deirdre's voice outside her door.

"Miss Kenna, there is a boy here for you."

"Thank you, Deirdre," Kenna said, sticking a random scrap of paper into her book to hold her place and standing up, before leaving her room.

"Does your father know you have a boyfriend?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at Kenna.

"No, because he's not my boyfriend." Deirdre gave her a pointed look and Kenna shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous, Deirdre. We're working on something together, for school." Deirdre didn't look impressed with Kenna's lie but she just followed Kenna down the stairs and walked back to the kitchen.

Bash was standing in the living room, his back to Kenna, looking out the window. He turned when he heard her enter the room.

"Nice place," he said by way of greeting and Kenna shrugged.

"It's big," she settled on saying.

"You strike me as the person who agrees that bigger is better."

"With some things, sure. Diamonds, bank accounts," she said, rolling her eyes as she spoke. "Maybe you should stop assuming you know who I am." His eyebrows shot up and the corner of Kenna's mouth quirked up at his reaction.

"Maybe so," he agreed. "Now, let's talk about this rumor," he said and Kenna grimaced, shooting a look down the hallway, where she knew Deirdre was waiting just around the corner.

"Let's go upstairs," she said, turning on her heel and darting up the stairs. "Sorry," she said, once they were in her bedroom. "Deirdre doesn't know about the closet incident or the detention or anything and I don't want her to."

"You call your mom by her first name?" he asked as he gazed around her room with such attention it made Kenna squirmy.

"Deirdre isn't my mom. She's my housekeeper," she admitted, pulling the desk chair out for Bash before sitting on her bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize," he said. He was frowning, an expression Kenna wasn't used to seeing him wear. She waved off his apology.

"It's fine. My mom died when I was seven. Deirdre has worked for us since then, so she's kind of like my mom." More of a parent than her actual father, anyway. She cleared her throat. "So, what do we need to talk about?"

"I heard about the rumor, about us sleeping together in the closet. I'm sorry, I know it can't be fun, after last year. I've told my friends it isn't true, if that helps," he said and Kenna almost laughed to hide the fact that she was almost touched by his words and actions.

"I appreciate that. But honestly, just ignore it. That'll help more than denying because then people think you're covering something up. I just keep my mouth shut and hope it blows over. And it will, because we aren't going to have sex in my car for people to talk about and they'll get bored and move on."

Bash blinked before shaking his head.

"That was a rather specific example," he said and she rolled her eyes before leaning back on her hands, the mattress shifting underneath her and the comforter bunching up under her fingers.

"You know what I mean. We aren't going to do anything that will interest the masses," she clarified.

"All right, problem one solved. Second thing. Catherine keeps bringing you up and wants you to come to the family dinner next Friday. I haven't really been able to tell her no," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and Kenna was almost distracted from the issue at hand by the fact that his arm was incredibly well defined.

"Why not? It's very simple, one word. No. Would you like me to spell it for you?"

Bash's eyes sparkled with mirth at her snarky comeback, but he sobered up quickly. "Okay, things have been… strained between me and Catherine and my dad. And Catherine isn't really your biggest fan, so I was kind of hoping you'd be game for one dinner."

"You want me to pretend to be your girlfriend because it will piss Catherine off?" Kenna asked, sitting up straight again, bringing her legs up onto the bed and crossing them.

"More or less, yeah."

"No."

"Kenna, c'mon, please. It would also make the family dinner more fun because there'd be someone else to talk to."

"No. Hey, look how easy that was to say. Now say it to Catherine."

"I can make it worth your while," he said, leaning his forearms on his legs and slanting his body closer to Kenna's. She arched an eyebrow at him, the only invitation she'd give him to continue.

"I bet you're just as sick of Mary moping around as I am of Francis. I can help you get them back together if you do this," he offered, a slow smile spreading across his face as she actually considered his proposition.

"Don't look smug," she snapped. "I haven't said yes."

"Yet."

"Has anyone ever told you you're insufferable?"

He chuckled. "Not with that exact word, but I have gotten that general idea before, yes."

She thought over the pros and cons of both situations and reluctantly came to the conclusion that pissing Catherine off and getting Mary back with Francis was worth one miserable dinner.

"Fine. But I want Mary and Francis back together before the dinner so she has to come too. I'm not gonna suffer alone."

"Deal," he said, his hand outstretched to shake on it. She took his and shook it resolutely. Kenna had just sat back on her bed, twisting the fabric of her comforter in her fingers when she heard the front door slam shut.

"Shit," she said, scrambling off of her bed and poking her head out of her door, to see her dad at the foot of the staircase. "Well," she said slowly as she walked back into her room. "It does seem only fair that you meet my dad if I'm hanging out with your family."

"Your dad's home?"

"I do believe that was the gist of my words, yes," she said, gesturing at him to stand up. "Come on, he'll be mad if he finds out you're here and we stayed upstairs." Bash took it better than she expected, he smoothed the front of his shirt down and shrugged at her.

"Lead the way." She did, the distance between them and her dad closing faster than she'd like. He was still standing in the entryway, eyes locked onto his phone in his hand, a briefcase at his feet on the hardwood floor. He hadn't even bothered to flip the chandelier on, the massive one with crystals that they both hated but her mom had picked out when they had moved in. His body threw shadows across the room, from the dim light filtering in from the kitchen down the hallway.

"Dad, you're home early," she said, trying to keep the surprise out of her voice.

"I forgot a file I needed here, I'm just grabbing it and then I have to head back in, sweetheart," he said, not even glancing up from his phone.

"Well, this is Bash. He's a friend from school," she said and her dad's eyes snapped up to meet theirs, a quicker reaction than she'd had from him in a while.

"A friend," he echoed.

"Sebastian Poitiers," Bash introduced himself, hand out to shake her father's. He accepted it, but his gaze was on Kenna.

"You haven't brought a boyfriend around here in a while," he said and raised his eyebrows when they both started protesting.

"Dad, no, we aren't together."

"We aren't dating, just friends."

"Right. Well, regardless. You know the rule Kenna, door open and Deirdre must know he's here," he said as he glanced down at his phone again. "I'm sorry, I have to grab that file and get back to the office. I probably won't be home till late tonight. You'll be okay, right?"

"Right," she agreed, forcing a smile onto her lips and her father smiled back. He picked his briefcase up and headed to his office, the door closing behind him. Kenna turned back to Bash. "So, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good," he said, but there was something Kenna thought she saw in his expression, despite the darkness of the room. He hesitated before speaking again. "Are you going to be all right, all alone?" Kenna almost smiled at his question.

"I'm not alone. Dierdre lives in the basement. It's this whole suite, it's really nice actually. There's a kitchen and a huge shower in the bathroom…" she trailed off when she realized she was rambling.

"I could stay," he offered and Kenna let her eyes shut for just an instant.

"I appreciate that, but I'm fine and I am one hundred percent sure you have better plans for a Friday night than a pity hangout with your fake girlfriend."

"It wouldn't be a pity hangout," he protested but Kenna heard the hesitance in his voice. Sure, it wasn't a pity hangout but it also wasn't something he'd have offered if he hadn't just seen her dad dismiss her.

"Go. I'm fine. I will see you bright and early Monday morning for our first detention," she said, pushing on his arm gently before swinging open the front door.

"Yeah, see you then," he said, an uncomfortable half smile on his face before he raised one arm in a goodbye wave. He walked down the cobblestone front path and got into his car, a dark blue something that had made all of the guys at school practically orgasm the first time he'd driven it after he'd gotten his license.

"Did your friend leave?" her dad asked, coming up behind Kenna, startling her. She flinched, then nodded, moving out of the doorway so he could leave too.

"Yeah, he had plans," she said, not sure if that was true or not because Bash had never actually confirmed it.

"Really just friends, huh?"

"Really just friends, Dad." And if Kenna sounded the slightest bit despondent about that fact, her father either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.

"Probably for the best. Boys are no good, the whole lot of them. Love you, sweetheart," he said, dropping a kiss on the top of her head before leaving again.

"Love you too," she said softly as he walked out the door. She walked down the hallway to the kitchen, the walls a light blue. There used to have been photographs, in the most hodge-podge assortment of frames, of their little family, both with Kenna and before she had been born. Now, though, the walls had been bare since Kenna had turned eight. She'd tried everything to get her father to put something else up. Every art project she'd ever made, she'd made in corresponding shades of blue in hopes he'd mount it on that blank expanse of wall, but to no avail. She'd long since given up.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Hello?"

"Is he still there?"

"Hello to you too, Mary. And no, he just left."

"Cool, we're almost to your place now. Don't eat dinner." With that, Mary hung up the phone, leaving Kenna to smile at her phone like an idiot.

"Deirdre," she called before rounding the corner into the kitchen. "Mary just called and said not to eat, did you start dinner?"

"No, I was just about to. That Mary has perfect timing," she said as she tucked a stray strand of brown hair behind her ear. "Do you need anything else this evening, if dinner is taken care of?"

"No, I'll be fine. Are you going to go visit your daughter?"

"Only if you'll be okay. I'll be back by dinner tomorrow, but I made a breakfast casserole, you just need to pop it in the oven. And there's enough food to make sandwiches or a salad for lunch. Sound doable?"

"I'll be perfectly fine. I have been known to fend for myself from time to time." Mostly when her father gave Deirdre time off and forgot to line up another sitter when she had been younger. "Go, enjoy yourself with your daughter. Tell her I said hi."

"I will do that, Miss Kenna. Have fun with your friends." Deirdre left shortly after, but Kenna only had the quiet house to herself for a matter of minutes before there was a perfunctory knock before the front door opened and she heard the chatter of her friends.

"Kenna!"

"I'm in the kitchen," she called as she stood to meet them. They came to her first though, and she inhaled deeply. "Chinese?"

"Of course," Mary said, brandishing the bag like a treasure chest. "We even got those egg rolls you like, the veggie kind."

"You know me so well. Do I need to grab anything else?"

"Nope, chopsticks are in the bag," Lola said. They filed into the family room and each claimed their designated spot. Mary claimed the huge arm chair, and instead of sitting sideways with her legs over the arm like everyone else did, she always sat straight up like it was a throne. Aylee and Greer each took half of the sofa, leaving Lola with the rocking chair and Kenna spread out over the entire love seat. Mary carefully unloaded the bag of food, handing each girl their favorite carton of food to start with. They usually slowly rotated through each thing, picking and choosing what they wanted. Greer tossed the little plastic bag with Kenna's egg rolls to her, the bag already turning soft with grease.

"So, are you going to the infamous family dinner?" Aylee asked through a mouthful of orange chicken.

Kenna nodded, chewing her egg roll, before getting into the whole story. She debated quickly over mentioning his idea to help Mary and Francis get back together before deciding to be completely honest.

"Francis is moping?" Mary asked, looking far too pleased about that than she really ought to.

"That's what he said, yes."

"I'm torn between being happy and really not wanting to go to those dinners. I'm always half afraid Catherine is going to poison my food," Mary said and Lola snorted.

"She isn't going to poison one of her students, don't be ridiculous," she said, waving her chopsticks in the air dismissively. A few chunks of rice flew off and landed on the tan carpet and Lola winced. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Tomorrow is cleaning day anyway," she said. A maid service came once a week and did all of the cleaning that Dierdre and Kenna didn't. And by that, she meant mostly Dierdre. Kenna kept her room in perfect shape and that was about it.

"But he really told his friends you didn't sleep together?" Greer asked.

"Yeah, that's what he said. It was nice of him, but I told him it wasn't worth it, people won't believe him."

"Still, most guys wouldn't try to tamp down rumors that he'd slept with someone, especially not you," Aylee added and Kenna shook her head.

"It's probably damaging his reputation, to have slept with a teacher's reject," she said, stabbing a piece of broccoli, frowning when her chopstick just slid off of it.

"Kenna," Mary said, half a rebuke, half a sigh.

"No one talks about that anymore," Greer said.

"They don't talk about it anymore, but everyone still thinks about it when they look at me," she said. She trained her eyes on the trio of candles settled on the coffee table in the middle of their seating. They were purely for decoration, she'd never seen them lit in the years they'd sat there.

"Kenna, everyone knows it was a ridiculous rumor that Olivia started about you. They all just bought into it because it's easier than doing the kind thing and ignoring it," Aylee said earnestly and Kenna raised her eyes slowly, shrugging.

"She's right," Lola agreed. "It's over and done with, let's not dwell on it anymore."

"That might be over. But how awkward do you think dinner is going to be when Henry's there?" she asked the room, munching on a piece of egg roll.

"That might be a tad awkward," Greer said, flinching away when Aylee tried to kick her side with her foot.

"He's an adult and he of all people knows it was a malicious rumor that you had nothing to do with. It will be fine. And I might be there, to draw all of the tension and ire from Catherine," Mary added, grinning at Kenna.

"So self-sacrificing for your friends," Lola teased.

"Of course. This is all about Kenna, nothing to do with Francis," Greer said, laughing when Mary tossed a pillow her way.

"Regardless of her intention, I would appreciate the help," Kenna said. "Which is why we need to get you back with your knight in shining armor." Mary rolled her eyes but didn't deny any of it. The rest of the night passed like a normal when they were all together—they talked, laughed, scrolled through people's Facebook feeds and popped a movie in that they only paid half attention to.

"We'll see you Monday," Mary said when they stood at the front door, the third time that night for Kenna to see someone off.

"Yeah, drive safe," she said, laughing as she heard Lola and Aylee fighting over who called shotgun first.

"I need to go mediate some peace," Mary said before hugging Kenna tightly and walking down the stairs to follow the other girls.

Kenna made sure they all got in the car and drove off before locking the door behind her and making sure all of the lights were off downstairs. Then she walked upstairs, trailing a hand over the wood banister as she did. With one last look at the silent, dark house below her, she entered her bedroom, pulling the door shut tight behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

The air was much colder at six in the morning than it was at seven, Kenna decided as she stood shivering outside the locked theatre door. There was no sign of Bash or the teacher who was supposed to be supervising their detention, Mr. Brighs. The theatre was a small building, tucked behind the main building that housed all of the classrooms and offices, a small path lined by pine trees leading the way. Just when Kenna had thought maybe they'd been supposed to meet somewhere else, Bash and Mr. Brighs walked up.

"Ms. Beaton, so sorry I'm late," Mr. Brighs said. "I ran into Mr. Poitiers in the main building and we got distracted." He turned his back to unlock the door but Kenna noticed the cup of coffee in his hands that was identical to Bash's.

"You bribed the teacher?" she asked him when Mr. Brighs had gotten the door open and stepped inside, holding it open for Kenna to catch.

"Bribe is a strong word. I wanted coffee, thought it'd be nice. Now I know to get you a cup, if you're always this crabby in the morning," he said, taking a sip out of his cup. Kenna walked inside, ignoring him because he wasn't half wrong. If she'd gotten up earlier, she would have had time to make coffee at her house but she'd hit snooze one too many times. She hadn't actually spent much time in the theatre before, she'd come to watch a show or two over the years but that was it. There was artwork from each show they'd done in recent years, the photographer doing a great job to capture the passion and feeling of the scene.

"It's really great you're helping out," Mr. Brighs said, reappearing from his office. "We're rather behind schedule with the sets. Today, I think if you two could paint the main backdrop, that would be great." He rattled off what he wanted them to use and left to do something vague he muttered about, already anxiously running a hand through his curly blond hair.

"Maybe giving him caffeine wasn't the best idea," she said, watching him walk out of the room.

"He could have turned it down," Bash said as he opened the can of paint and dumped it into the tray. "Let's get this over with."

They worked quickly and rather quietly. Kenna actually didn't mind the work. It was calming, working the paint over the wood. Despite her best efforts, however, she couldn't stop from splattering tiny little dots of paint every time she re-dipped her brush and ran it over the lip of the paint tray.

"Good thing I didn't wear my uniform for this," she said, gesturing to the paint on her clothes when Bash looked up at her.

"I agree, I'm already wearing a lot of it too," he agreed.

When Mr. Brighs appeared back in their room, Kenna was almost surprised the hour was up. It had passed quickly and she hadn't been nearly as uncomfortable as she thought she had been going to be. She got to her feet, brushing her hands together, regretting it as the wet paint on her fingers just spread around, squishing between her palms.

"I'm going to go clean up," she said, gesturing towards the bathrooms they had passed on their way in. She carefully looped her arm through her backpack strap and brought that with her. She washed her hands thoroughly, scrubbing at the paint that had embedded itself in her cuticles. Then she changed out of the leggings and t-shirt she had chosen that morning, figuring she should wear clothes she didn't care about. Stuffing those into a plastic bag, she donned her uniform and released her hair from the loose ponytail she had put it in that morning, letting it fall freely around her shoulders. With one last look in the mirror, she pulled her backpack on and left the bathroom, almost running into Bash.

"Were you waiting for me?" she asked once she'd taken a step back to look at him properly. He'd just thrown his uniform jacket on over the white shirt he'd been wearing before and maybe changed his pants. Kenna couldn't tell, they looked rather wrinkly and worn, but she also couldn't see any paint specks on them either.

"Figured we could walk over together," he said. His hands were stuffed in his jacket pockets and when he shrugged a little bit, his jacket and shirt went up as well, revealing a sliver of his stomach. Kenna had to tear her eyes from it and back to his face, where he was waiting for an answer.

"Fine with me," she finally said trying to act like she wasn't mortified he may or may not have noticed her checking him out. They walked out the doors and Kenna stood by her earlier position of it being warmer at seven. It definitely wasn't as chilly as it had been when she'd been waiting.

There were a few students milling around the halls when they walked in, the quiet mood the school always held before everyone woke up was still there. Kenna wasn't sure where Bash needed to go, but she started walking to the hallway with their lockers in it and he followed without complaint. They had almost made it to the lockers when a group of guys walked by and started talking to each other, eyes trained on Kenna and Bash. One had the nerve to smirk at Bash. She could feel him about to snap back.

"Don't," she muttered.

"Don't what?"

"Don't respond. They're waiting for you to defend my honor or some bullshit. Or agree that it's quite an achievement to get with me. Don't even bother," she said, walking up to her locker and twisting her combination open.

"This is ridiculous though," he said, staring at her, which was better than him charging at the idiots down the hall.

"Welcome to high school, where teenage boys run rampant," she said, flashing him a sarcastic smile.

"Someone should," he blurted out.

"Someone should what?" she asked, once it was clear he wasn't going to expand on that.

"Defend your honor." Kenna gaped at him. Bash was the most confusing person. Last week, she hadn't even known he knew who she was, more than Mary's friend, at least. Now, he wanted people to stop spreading rumors about her and treat her like a real person.

"That's sweet. But I can handle it on my own. I've been handling things myself for a while," she said, shutting her locker once she'd gotten all of her notebooks out and looking up at Bash.

"Doesn't mean you should have to."

"Maybe not. But it is what it is. And I'm fine with that," she said, leaning against her hip against her locker, the chill of the metal locker seeping into her skin.

"You're very unpredictable," he said, matching her stance and leaning against the locker next to hers.

"I didn't realize you thought about me that much, to figure out I'm unpredictable," she replied, lifting her chin up to look him in the eye. His gaze was soft, a small smile playing on his lips as he returned her look. It almost made her blush and look down, but she kept her head up and focused on him.

"Maybe there are more things you didn't realize," he said and Kenna had never been more grateful for the ringing bell that signaled class was about to begin.

"See you tomorrow," she said, pushing off of the lockers and walking down the hall towards her first class, English.

"Bye, Kenna," he called after her. She didn't turn around, she didn't want him to have the satisfaction of seeing her smile, almost giddily, but she did flutter her fingers in the air behind her. Contrary to what people thought about her, she hadn't actually dated that many people. This wasn't new territory, but she also hadn't met anyone quite like Bash before.

Throughout the week, Kenna and Bash graduated to painting the details of the set, instead of just painting the base coats on wood. Mr. Brighs was ecstatic that they were getting so much done and bemoaned the fact that they were only sentenced to the theatre for a little over a week longer.

"If you ever feel like coming back, after next week is over, you both would be welcomed with open arms," he said, watching over as Kenna painted out one of the buildings in a line of storefronts. Bash was wrangling the next piece they had to paint.

"If I ever have some free time, I'd love to come back," she said, scratching her nose absentmindedly. Bash let out a huge sigh as he set the wood slab down and then stretched and his back cracked with a loud pop. Kenna wrinkled her nose at the noise and he grinned.

"You don't ever crack your back?"

"Not that loudly," she said. "The noise creeps me out."

"But it usually feels so good afterwards, surely you can handle one little sound for that, huh?" She just shook her head at him until he smiled again and gave up. Like it had all week, the hour passed by in the blink of an eye and Kenna was in the bathroom, scrubbing her hands free of paint when she noticed her reflection in the mirror. There was a long strip of yellow paint down her nose and she groaned. She carefully wet a paper towel and rubbed her nose with it. It took a while and her nose felt more than a little raw afterwards, but she got all of the yellow off her face.

"You didn't tell me I got paint on my nose," she said, when she walked out and met Bash.

"Did I forget to mention that?" he asked, the perfect façade of innocence written across his features.

"Yes, you did. You're lucky I looked in the mirror before school started."

"That sounded like the start of a threat. What would you have done?" he asked, head tilted towards hers as they walked to the main building.

"Been very angry at you. I would have decided your fate later," she said, a smile fighting on her face as she tried to remain stern.

"Oh, so serious you have to think about it," he said and she swatted at his arm. "I did want to talk to you though," he said, shifting gears.

"Yeah?"

"The dinner is tonight. I can pick you up, if you'd like. Or you can just come over yourself at six," he said, avoiding her eyes when she tried to look at him.

"I can drive, that's fine. What's the attire for this?"

"Nothing ridiculous, but nice."

"I'll ask Mary for help, thank god she's back with Francis. Now I won't have to face Catherine alone," Kenna said. Earlier that week, Mary had finally spoken with Francis, who listened after a pep talk from Bash, and they had a much-needed talk about what they'd been feeling, about their break and about each other. Now they were happily and nauseatingly back together.

"I will be there, you know. You aren't sitting down with Catherine one-on-one," he said suddenly. Kenna shot him a look and nodded.

"I know. But you're their family, they aren't going to spend the night making thinly veiled comments about how unsuitable I am, or Mary is for you and Francis. At least, that's what I assume I'm in for since the whole reason we're doing this is to piss her off," she said heatedly, backing down slightly when she noticed people in the halls staring at them.

"No, I get that. I just…" he trailed off before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Just what?" she prompted just before the bell rang and students started scurrying to their classrooms.

"Nothing. I'll see you tonight, all right?"

"All right," she agreed, watching him walk away, a complete reversal of Monday's interaction. She still needed to get to her locker before walking to the other end of the building for her class. With a long sigh, she began the trek.


	4. Chapter 4

Kenna almost didn't recognize the expression staring back at her from her car's visor mirror. She was checking her makeup one more time before walking up the long driveway to the Valois/Medici house. Her face was flushed, she could feel that even if she couldn't see the actual redness from under her concealer. Her eyes, rimmed with mascara and a little eyeliner, were wide and bright and she rolled them just to feel more like herself. She swiped on one more coat of her lipstick before stuffing the little tube in her purse and stepping out of her car. The wind blew fiercely around her, shaking the tree branches, and she pulled her coat tighter around her body. She wished she hadn't decided to wear a dress, a white one that was technically strapless but the layer of lace that covered the whole thing came up over her bodice and wrapped around her neck to form the top of the dress.

She made her way up the driveway and had just knocked when the door opened immediately, surprising her with the swiftness. Bash was on the other side of it and beckoned her in.

"Glad you're here," he murmured and held his arm out for her coat. She undid the buckles and let him take it. The house was rather warm so the dress hadn't been such a poor decision, she concluded. The huge fire crackling in the living room just to her left probably had something to do with it. He hung her coat in the closet in the entryway and led her to the dining room, where everyone already was. Mary was standing at Francis' side, his arm curled around her waist while they spoke with Henry. The dining room was the next room over and Kenna could hear the fire still, the logs shifting as they burned. She hadn't really known what to expect of Catherine's house but somehow it seemed fitting. The room was large and ornate, elaborate, white crown molding and a chair rail encircling the room which contrasted with the deep red of the walls. In the dead middle of the room was the wooden dining room table, already set with food.

"So glad you could make it, Kenna," Catherine said as she walked into the room.

"Of course. Thank you for inviting me," she said, inclining her head to the woman.

"Let's sit!" Catherine said and everyone followed her suggestion. Bash pulled a chair out for Kenna and sat next to her, Mary sat across from her with Francis at her side. Catherine and Henry both took an end seat. The meal started and everything tasted great, but Kenna mostly pushed the food around on her plate, still too anxious to eat much. Soon, the conversation shifted to Mary and Francis' reunion.

"Yes, it's so wonderful, isn't it?" Catherine said. Kenna wondered how a person could sound equally sincere and sarcastic at the same time.

"I think so," Francis said, smiling over at Mary. Kenna almost laughed, she couldn't decide if she was more happy for her friend or overwhelmed by how in love they were.

"You know, Kenna, I'm surprised that you're interested in Bash. He hasn't been your biggest fan in the past," Catherine said and took a long sip of her wine, eyes intent on Kenna over the rim of her glass.

"I'm sorry, I don't follow," she said, her gaze moving between Catherine's and Bash's.

"Catherine," Bash said, voice tight and Kenna bit the inside of her cheek.

"Oh, please continue, Catherine," she said. "I'd love to hear what Bash used to think of me."

"He's just mentioned how you seemed extremely superficial and rather… simple," she said.

"Personally, I thought your… colorful past would have more reason for concern than that. Interesting choice in dress color, don't you think? Brides are supposed to wear white for a reason, or is that just an old-fashioned tradition now?" she asked pointedly and Kenna could feel her cheeks reddening, probably enough to show through her makeup this time.

Mary was looking between the three of them, concern and anger on her face but she seemed to be waiting for something. Waiting for Bash to say something. When he just sat there, she raised her voice.

"Catherine, this is incredibly uncalled for and rude."

"Mary, it's all right. I can see when I'm not wanted somewhere," Kenna said, standing from her spot at the table, the chair screeching against the wood floors as it jolted backwards.

"Kenna," Bash said quietly. She shook her head quickly.

"Thank you for the dinner. The food was lovely," she said, turning on her heel and walking back to the entryway. She pulled her jacket from the hanger in the closet, swearing under her breath when her car key fell from the pocket. She crouched down to pick it up, fingers tightening painfully around the scored edges of the key. Rising slowly, she had just been about to put her coat on when someone came up behind her.

"Kenna, wait," Bash said from behind her.

"Why, was there another insult you wanted to throw my way before I leave?" She didn't turn to face him, she couldn't, not when she was this close to having tears run down her face.

"Catherine just says things to stir the pot."

"So you've never called me superficial and simple? Never called me a slut for sleeping with my boyfriend?" she asked.

"I have never called you a slut," he said quickly and Kenna let out a bitter chuckle.

"So that's a yes to the first part, then." Silence met her words and she finally turned around to look at him.

"I think I rattled Catherine some, for her to slut shame one of her students. I'm going to call us even in that regard. Goodbye, Bash."

She stepped back out into the chilled autumn air, grateful their front door was a solid piece of wood with no windows. No way for Bash to know she leaned against it, let her body sag backwards for just a moment before the air spurred her into action. She walked down to her car, threading her arms through the jacket she'd been too preoccupied to don while still inside the house. She rubbed her fingers across her face once she was in her car, and they came away wet from the tears she stopped trying to hold back. With a deep shuddering breath meant to stabilize her breathing, she put her car into drive and guided it around the corner, just far enough away she knew Bash wouldn't be looking, if he even had tried to.

The car in park, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called Greer.

"Kenna, what's wrong? The dinner can't be over already, can it?"

"Can I come over, Greer?" she asked.

"Of course you can." Greer sounded bewildered and Kenna didn't blame her. Nothing that had happened tonight should have affected her this much. She'd just been stupid enough to think Bash had been nice, different from the other boys saw her and made assumptions based on how she looked or what others said about her. That he cared about her. How silly of her. One of these days, she'd remember that men were all the same and the lot of them couldn't be trusted.

"I'll be over soon," she said and disconnected the call. The sun had already set, winter was creeping up on them, shortening the daylight and snuffing the life out of everything around them. As much as autumn was Kenna's favorite season, winter was her least favorite.

Greer's house was the nearest to Bash's, so she pulled in front of her place in a matter of minutes once she'd stopped crying enough to see. She knocked on the door and Greer's mother opened the door a few moments later.

"Kenna, haven't seen you in a while. How are you, dear?" she asked, pulling Kenna into a soft hug. Kenna smiled into her shoulder.

"School has been busy. But I'm fine. How have you been?"

"Just fine, just fine. Greer is up in her room, go on up." Kenna thought she'd gotten away with looking and feeling like shit when Greer's mom gave her a soft smile, the kind you give when you feel bad for a person. She returned the smile and darted up the stairs, pushing Greer's door open without knocking.

"Kenna, what happened?" she said, scooting over on her bed so Kenna could collapse next to her.

"Catherine happened," she said and went into the night's events. Greer was silent for a moment before shaking her head.

"I'm so sorry she said those things to you. She went way too far. And I'm disappointed in Bash."

Kenna eyed her for a second.

"But?"

"But… and I'm not saying I agree. But some people might get the impression that you don't care much about anything serious. I don't think you should hold something against Bash that he thought before he got to know you," Greer's voice was steady, only dipping towards the beginning when she mentioned what other people thought.

"So it's okay that he said I was superficial and simple?"

"Of course not. But I think he might have said those things before he honestly got to know you. Because I know you and I know that anyone who says that about you is crazy," she said.

"That doesn't mean I'm not mad at him," she said, too stubborn to let it go yet.

"Which is fine. I think you should talk to him before you forgive anything. Because it was shitty. I know you were only there to piss off Catherine, but that wasn't warranted at all."

"I agree. What a horrid woman," she said, toeing her shoes off and letting them drop off the side of Greer's bed, shifting further down the pillows and throwing her arm over her eyes. "Why did I even bother?"

"Because you like Bash, more than you've liked anyone else in a long time," Mary said and Kenna raised her head to see Mary in the doorway, holding a plastic grocery bag in one hand and spoons in the other.

"False."

"Not false," Greer said, waving Mary in. She put her jacket on Greer's desk chair and clambered onto the bed, sitting by their feet at the foot of the bed.

"Well, I shouldn't. Someone should have told me not to like him."

Greer and Mary shared a look before laughing.

"As if we could ever convince you not to do something," Mary said, taking a carton of chocolate peanut butter ice cream out of the bag. She handed it to Kenna along with a spoon. "I stopped by the store after I left the dinner. You caused quite a stir. Bash was livid after you left, he yelled at Catherine and then stormed out. I took my exit shortly afterwards. Catherine isn't pleasant on her best days, I wasn't about to stick around after that."

Kenna spooned a large amount of ice cream onto her spoon and passed the carton to Greer, sticking half of the spoon in her mouth and enjoyed the mix of flavors on her tongue.

"Thanks for the ice cream," she mumbled through her mouthful.

"Anytime. Now, are we going to talk about what happened or eat ice cream and watch Netflix?" she asked briskly, reaching her hand out to take the carton from Greer.

"The second one," Kenna said. "Can I borrow pajamas? Also, can I sleep over tonight?"

"Yes and probably yes," Greer said. "You want to too, Mary?" Mary nodded and Greer climbed over Kenna, laughing when she accidently placed her knee on Kenna's stomach and she wheezed. "Sorry," she said as she left the room and yelled downstairs, "Can the girls stay over tonight?" She waited for an answer and padded back into the room. "Yeah, that's cool." She dug pajamas out of her dresser and tossed them to Kenna and Mary. Kenna sent a text to Deirdre, letting her know the new plan.

Once they were all changed and comfortable, they climbed back into the bed, leaning against the wall so they could all huddle around the laptop on Greer's lap.

"Let's watch anything that's not a rom-com," Kenna suggested, tucking her feet under Greer's soft blanket.

They settled on watching a crime show that focused on some particularly gruesome murders. The next thing Kenna realized, it was morning. Someone had put Greer's laptop on her desk at some point. Kenna was curled in a ball in the corner of the bed nearest the wall, Greer next to her, one arm dangling off the side of the bed. Mary was at the foot of the bed, lying diagonally so her head was near Kenna's feet halfway up the bed. Kenna carefully crawled out over Greer and dodged Mary's feet to escape to the bathroom. Once she'd went to the bathroom and somewhat tamed her hair, she went back to the bedroom and crawled back into bed. It was only eight, way too early to be awake on a Saturday.

The next time she woke up, both Greer and Mary were awake as well. They were whispering at the foot of the bed so Kenna took the pillow from behind her head and tossed it at them.

"Shhh," she said.

"Kenna, it's eleven. Time to wake up and do stuff with your life," Mary said. Kenna groaned but sat up, rubbing at her eyes with closed fists. "You need to figure out if you want to talk to Bash."

"It's Saturday, I don't need to decide anything until Monday at six o'clock."

"Normally I'd agree. But he's called you twice and there are multiple texts from him," Greer said, holding out Kenna's phone. She took it and scrolled through the notifications. There were the normal facebook and twitter updates, a few texts from Deirdre wanting an update of when she'd be home, and then the mentioned texts and calls from Bash.

 _We need to talk._

 _I want to apologize for last night._

 _Just call me back if you want to._

Kenna answered Deirdre, that she'd probably be home after lunch, before putting her phone on the bed, screen down.

"Maybe I shouldn't be mad at him. But I am," she admitted.

"I think that's fine. You like him, he likes you, last night was rough. It makes sense," Greer said. Kenna bit her lip before asking what had been on her mind all week.

"But does he actually like me? It's possible he was just making the best of being trapped in detention with me for two weeks. And the whole point of the dinner was to make Catherine mad. That isn't exactly the best basis for a relationship."

"Kenna, I can't say anything for certain but he's been different lately. Francis even said something about how you were a good influence on him. He's been happier," Mary said.

"The joy of pissing off his step-mother spreading to his everyday life?" Kenna suggested and both Greer and Mary tsked at her.

"Now you're being ridiculous. I'm not saying to rush off into his arms. But give him a chance to explain. The slut thing was obviously all Catherine. But it's possible he said you were superficial two years ago. Which, yes, is still mean and uncalled for, but I think there's room to move on from it," Mary said, raising a finger to hold Kenna's protests off.

"Ugh," Kenna said, flopping backwards onto the bed again. "I don't want to think about this right now."

"That's fine. Let's go eat something. Then I should head home. I need to get homework done, Francis and I are going out tomorrow so I want to get everything done today," Mary said and they made their way downstairs to piece together a teenager's version of brunch—scrambled eggs, hot dogs, and toast with Nutella.

"Thanks for letting me stay over," she said to Greer when they had finished eating and Kenna had changed back into her dress from the night before. She waved to Greer as she and Mary left the house, each heading to their own car. Mary paused before she opened her door and called over to Kenna.

"Whatever happens, we're here for you. But try hearing Bash out before you decide anything for good."

Kenna nodded once and thought about it the whole drive home.


	5. Chapter 5

Kenna made sure she was the first one to arrive at detention. She had found a janitor, not the one who had found her and Bash in the closet a few weeks ago, and made up a story of leaving her textbook in the theatre over the weekend. He hadn't cared too much and had left after he'd opened the doors for her. She stuck her headphones in her ears, music full blast, and got to work, fixing some lines and details on the storefronts she had been working on last week.

After a few minutes of working, she saw something move out of the corner of her eye, but she kept her eyes firmly on the wood she was painting. She had almost refocused herself when there was a touch to her shoulder and she jolted, ripping her headphones out of one ear.

"Ms. Beaton, how did you get in here before me?" Mr. Brighs asked. He unwrapped the bright red scarf from his neck as he spoke and hung it on the little hook outside of his office door.

"Oh, I left a textbook in here Friday and I wanted to make sure it was actually here, so I asked a janitor to let me in. And then I was already here, so I figured I'd get started," she said. She had just started letting her hand rest for a minute, her wrist lying across her thigh to make sure the paintbrush didn't touch her, when Bash walked through the door. She smiled at Mr. Brighs and added, "Speaking of which, I should get back to it." He nodded at her and she slipped her ear bud back in, not sure if it was better or worse not to be able to hear Bash. Mr. Brighs stayed in the room a while with them, going over a checklist of what was done and what still needed to be done. Once that was done though, he left to go check the status of the costumes and Kenna could almost feel Bash looking at her. She was going to ignore him for the whole hour of detention, that was honestly her plan. However, when one of her songs ended, she heard him say her name in the brief window of silence.

She looked over at him, almost against her will and knew she couldn't pretend she didn't see him this time. She took her headphones out, but didn't say anything.

"You didn't call this weekend," he said. Kenna shrugged.

"I didn't think there was anything to talk about."

"Kenna. I know this doesn't excuse it, but I said those things about you before I knew you. Before two weeks ago, I didn't know that you take the best photographs of the trees changing in the fall or portraits that show who a person really is. I didn't know you hate your house and miss your dad. I mean, I didn't even know you'd lost your mom when you were little," he said, his voice gentle and almost pleading.

"I didn't show you any of my photographs," she said, refusing to meet his eyes.

"They were hanging up in your room when I came over last week. They were incredible, Kenna." She'd almost forgotten she'd hung up some of her work in her room. It was the only place she was allowed to, so she'd plastered one wall full of art, a mix of hers and her favorite artists.

"If you knew Catherine hated me that much, why did you have me over? That went way beyond a joke or an elaborate way to make her angry," she said, proud when her voice didn't waver.

"I wanted you to come over because I wanted it to be real. I want you to come to family dinners because you are my girlfriend, not for some petty game with Catherine. I want to walk you to class because I want to see you for a few minutes longer during the day, not because our classes are in the same direction. I like you, Kenna," he said. Kenna had raised her head to look him in the eye as he gave his speech, which in turn, left her speechless.

"Well, that. That changes a few things," she said. She cleared her throat. "Hypothetically, if I said I liked you as well, are the family dinners mandatory? Because, in case you hadn't realized, I'm not really as diplomatic as Mary. I'm not sure your family can handle another show down." He started smiling as she was talking and she smiled too, unable to refrain from it.

"I'm sure we can work something out. After all, I'm the one you're dating, not my whole family. We can make it work."

"Well, in that case," Kenna said, leaning forwards. She hadn't realized he'd been so close to her as they'd been speaking, but it worked out quite well to push herself forward and catch his lips in a sweet kiss. Her hands flew up to steady herself as the momentum propelled her towards him. One hand landed on his shoulder, the other tried to wrap around his neck but she realized a second too late she was still clutching the paint brush. He jolted as the cold paint touched his neck and he broke the kiss with a curse.

She met his surprise with wide eyes, the start of a smile fighting at her mouth.

"That was a complete accident, I swear it," she said, holding her hands up in surrender. He nodded gravely.

"I'm sure it was. As was… this," he said, dipping his fingers into the can of red paint and swiping it across her collarbone.

"Bash!" The fight evolved into an all-out war, she put her fingers over the bristles of the brush and sprayed it on him, the white dots peppering his face. He flicked a blob of green paint at her and it landed on her cheek, sliding down until the rest of it plopped onto her chest. They only called for a ceasefire when a small blob of red landed on the white background of the set they were working on. Kenna wiped the majority of it up and repainted it quickly, before Brighs came back and saw.

A few seconds after Kenna had fixed the set, Brighs did walk in and did a double take when he saw the state the two of them were in.

"Because you two have done so much work for me last week, I am going to walk into my office and pretend I didn't see you. In fact, I might stay in my office until seven, so I might not even see you again today," he said with a wink as he walked past them and shut the office door behind him. Kenna bit her lip and looked at Bash before dissolving into laughter again.

"Let's go get cleaned up," she said in between giggles. "If we have enough time before class, maybe we could go grab coffee from down on the corner." That was the agreed upon plan and Kenna found herself in the bathroom trying to scrub all of the paint off her face and neck with just water, hand soap, and paper towels. It was just as difficult as it sounded. Once she was sure she had scrubbed off the top layer of her skin completely, she called it good and changed. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she decided to get her hair out of her face and pulled it back into a braid.

"Ready?" she asked as she left the bathroom and found Bash waiting for her, where he had all of last week.

"Yes. We should have enough time to get coffee, if you still wanted to," he said. She nodded and they left the theatre and walked around the main building to get to the street and they made their way down to the little local coffee shop that flooded with people after school.

"So, I'm sure Catherine will be incredibly distraught when she finds out we made up," Kenna said, swinging her arms lightly by her sides, hoping he'd take the hint and grab her hand. Something about Bash made Kenna revert to acting like a middle schooler and she didn't even mind it.

"Catherine will also be distraught when she finds out I don't really give a damn what she thinks," Bash countered and slid his fingers through Kenna's, tangling them together. Kenna looked over at Bash and grinned. "And as long as she doesn't rattle you too much, I think we'll be okay." The street was noisy, full of parents dropping their children off early and just the general morning traffic. The sun was just rising over the houses across from the school, peeking over the roofs and flooding the street with soft light.

"I'll be fine. But if you have insulted me in the past anymore, you should probably come clean now so she doesn't blindside me again."

"I promise that was the only thing. Contrary to what Catherine made it seem like, I don't actually talk to her that much about people from school."

"That's fair enough." They walked into the coffee shop and Kenna inhaled deeply, the smell of coffee filling her lungs. The shop was small but cozy. There was room for a few oversized armchairs, each a different color. Artwork dotted the walls, from local artists, some of which Kenna recognized. "What do you want?" Bash ordered a medium black coffee and Kenna got a caramel macchiato. She dug some money out of her pocket and paid before Bash could and he shot her a look.

"What?"

"I could have paid."

"And so could I. You can get the next one," she said with a little shrug.

"I'm holding you to that," he said and she smiled.

"I'm counting on it." He tugged her closer and she went willingly, leaning up to catch his lips in a kiss that was toned down enough for a public space but showed Kenna just how pleasant any future time alone could prove to be. When she finally took a step back, he wrapped an arm around her waist and she leaned into his side, she turned her head to the counter to check on their drinks and saw Catherine looked at them. She stiffened and Bash followed her gaze. After a long, awkward moment of steady eye contact, Catherine inclined her head ever so slightly before taking her change from the cashier and stepping back to wait for her order.

"Was that Catherine's approval?" Kenna asked, whispering it into Bash's ear.

"I believe so," he said, sounding just as surprised as she felt. Their drinks came up and they took them outside, laughing once the door shut behind them. "That could have gone much worse."

"I wouldn't count us out of the woods yet. There were people around. Just wait until you're home alone with her later." Bash shuddered and Kenna laughed again, bumping her shoulder into his arm. They drank their coffee as they walked slowly back to school, trading kisses along the way, the bitter taste of Bash's coffee mingling with her own sweet one.

"Are you doing anything tonight?" Bash asked, once they had walked into school and Kenna was going through her locker, pulling out what she needed for the day.

"I have a paper I need to write and a few other things," she said, trying to remember everything she had written down in her planner.

"I have a take home test for my chemistry class," he said, nodding. "We should do something this weekend, a proper date."

"I'd love that. Friday?" she asked, confident she didn't have anything else going on that day.

"Works for me," he said. The bell rang and he squeezed her hand before kissing her goodbye. It quickly escalated with Kenna's back against the locker and her hands tangled in his hair. His hands were burning against her hips, one curving up around the side of her waist. He moved his fingers just slightly and Kenna broke out of the kiss, unable to hold back her laughter.

"Sorry, I am so ticklish there," she said, gasping a little from the jolt.

"Good to know," he said and Kenna didn't like the glint in his eye.

"No, not good to know. You should forget I said that," she said as he smiled at her and began walking down the hall to his classroom. "I mean it," she called after him before smiling to herself. She hooked her thumbs around her backpack's straps and walked to her own classroom.

"Kenna, what's in your hair?" Lola asked as they all sat at their usual lunch table. By some miracle, they'd all been assigned the same lunch period and they took advantage of the fact every day.

"What do you mean, where?" she asked, touching her braid.

"No, up here," Mary said, motioning to her own hairline. Kenna felt her forehead and tried to bite down the smile already overtaking her features when she touched a dry patch of paint against her hair. She didn't know how she'd missed it when she was cleaning up earlier.

"Oh, paint from this morning. Painting sets can be very messy," she said and Mary narrowed her eyes at her.

"You don't just magically get paint up there. Was there an incident with a certain person?" Mary asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Kenna replied but the girls all jumped on her smile and demanded answers.

"I may have made up with Bash," she finally admitted and relished the girls' gasps and exclamations.

"I knew you would work it out," Greer said, a self-satisfied expression on her face.

"I'm glad someone had some faith in me and him," she said before stuffing a cucumber from her salad into her mouth. She crunched on that while the girls chattered about Bash and boys in general. She smiled at the scene. She couldn't be luckier, to have such amazing friends and now, hopefully a great boyfriend as well.


End file.
